Senate boosts dredging funds

Alicia Robinson

A major dredging project in the Back Bay likely will begin in

September, possibly with a $7-million boost in federal funds.

The dredging will combat the constant deposit of sediment into the

1,000-acre Back Bay. Since 1998 city, state and federal officials

have planned a $38-million project to remove 2.1 million cubic yards

of sediment from the bay and restore the area as a wildlife habitat.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein got the possible $7 million written into a

Senate energy and water appropriations bill earlier this month,

filling local officials with subdued glee.

They’re gleeful because it’s much more than the $2 million Newport

Beach Rep. Chris Cox netted for the project in the House version of

the bill. But federal legislators still must reconcile the two

versions of the bill, so the full $7 million isn’t a sure thing.

It is, however, a final bit of assurance for local officials that

they can get the project underway this fall.

Bids for the construction work could go out by mid-July with a

possible contract award in September, said Susan Brodeur, a coastal

engineer in Orange County’s Watershed and Coastal Resources Division.

Officials already were counting on $12.5 million promised by the

California Coastal Conservancy. The $2 million in the house bill was

the minimum needed to begin the work, so the possibility of more is a

bonus.

“It’s great news,” Brodeur said. “We started from zero in the

president’s budget, and it was great to get $2 million in the House

bill, but it was really good news to know that they might bump it up

even further in the Senate bill.”

Cox said Feinstein was able to pump up the Back Bay funding in the

Senate bill because the bill itself includes $1.5 billion more than

the House version and significantly more for the U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers, which will lead the project.

In the House, Cox asked for $13 million but only got the $2

million.

“Their budget is not as austere as the House budget,” he said. “In

my view, $7 million is a compromise, and one that we would not have

been able to achieve without Sen. Feinstein’s leadership.”

Newport Beach Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff said Feinstein has

always been supportive of the city’s appropriation requests, but the

Back Bay has never fared so well.

“We’ve never had this much put into either side before, so we’re

cautiously optimistic,” he said.

The project could take two to three years to complete, with

dredging work taking place around the clock and habitat restoration

on a more typical daytime schedule. The sediment will go to a dump

site 4.5 nautical miles offshore from Newport Beach.

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